If you need phone/screen share or email support after your first free
year of support please click below You may find the
answers below in tutorial videos, user
manual, and troubleshooting help on the bottom of this page
Quick Start Video Get's
you up and running quickly by describing the steps to get Nextkast set
up for
the first time
NextKast Pro Overview Video What
Makes Nextkast Unique?
Connecting
to you Stream Provider Steps
required to connect Nextkast to your Stream Provider so you can start
broadcasting.
Connect to Live365 How
to get connected to your Live365 account
Using
The Scheduler Once
rotations or playlists are created this video walks you through the
steps of setting up a schedule in Nextkast.
Advanced Music Scheduling A complete tutorial on Music Scheduling built into NextKast
Manually Create A Playlist for a Date/Time Create
a custom playlist for a show and have it run Automatically no
scheduling required
DSP,EQ, Gain, Compression Settings Fine
Tuning your stations sound settings.
In Studio Voice Tracking in Nextkast Pro AN
overview video on how to get started with voice tracking in
NextKast Pro Version
Remote
Voice Tracking in Nextkast Broadcast Version AN
overview video on how to get started with remote voice tracking in
NextKast Broadcast Version
Running Live / Microphone Setup / Semi Real Time Voicetracking How
Do a live radio show using Nextkast
Podcast Creation and Voice Tracking with Nextkast Use
Nextkast Pro to help you make radio podcasting easier!
MobileVT Remote Voicetrack from iPhone, Android, PC, Or Mac
Run Nextkast In the Cloud via VPS Shows you how to set up Nextkast in the Cloud
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Over the last 10 years Nextkast has evolved quickly to become a powerhouse of features at an amazing cost/value ratio. NextKast Brodcast Version is an unbelievable value for Full Power FM stations and provides all the features, support, and felxibilty of the large automation products with the benfit of direct contact with the developer. Call us today to find out more (210)286-2975
Please refer to the bottom of the DOWNLOAD PAGE page for the feature differences and make sure to download the trial of the version you would like. Simply put, the Standard Version is an autodj software which adds supurb sound and transitions, the Pro Version allows for in studio voicetracking and the Broadcast Version has all the features of modern large scale radio automation software including remote voicetracking
YES, Nextkast supports Shoutcast v1 and v2, Icecast , Live 365, and Radio.co and is not restricted to any stream provider.
YES, Nextkast has the ability to run on a windows server ( for example windows server 2012 in the 'Cloud') This option will allow you to run your station from a server farm with more robust internet connection and backup power etc... Instruction are on page 48 of the user manual. Here is a VIDEO that may help you to set this up.
YES, you can choose to drag songs in the available player and do announcements live, or run in completely automated mode where Nextkast will automatically pick the songs for you according to your rotation/clock categories. Here is a VIDEO that will help you understand how to run Live in Nextkast
Yes, Nextkast has a Mic input that will allow you to talk over, or in between music tracks. You can also record your voice, and then play it during a transition, or as a track. Run Nextkast Live
Yes, Nextkast has a built in Auto Gain Control, EQ and Audio Compressor to make your station sound Pro. In addition you can use external sound processing like BreakAway and Stereo Tools as DSP plugins.
Yes, you can create and load .pls or 3mu playlist files into NextKast for Radio automation Playout, we support all external scheduling software like MusicMaster, Music1, Natural Music, Powergold, Station Playlist Creator, and many others.
Yes, you can mark these for each track loaded. Sweep start can be marked and each track can have a unique sweeper, along with inrto until, outro starts, and next Start to mark when the next song should start.
Yes,we currently have an importer that can load music and cue data from Station Playlist, RadioDJ, Natural Music and Others. Contact us for addition information.
Yes, for instance you can schedule a daytime, drive time, and night rotation, to change the sound of your station depending on the time of day/night.
Yes, you simply make a category or categories for your commercials and then place them in the rotation where needed.
NextKast currently can playback .mp3 .wav .aiff .ogg .m4a .mp2 .flac audio file types.
Here is a Brief Overview of how to Broadcast
Skype Calls Calls Using NextKast and two Sound Cards.
With the help of external drive sharing apps like Drop Box, Google Drive, and OneDrive, you can remotely Manage and voicetrack. The Remote Location simply runs a separate copy of NextKast and sets the Remote Path to the Drive Sharing location. The broadcast System also points to the same Drive Sharing Location. Our New Broadcast version now also has a Server / Client method which does not require drive sharing for Remote voicetracking and remote management, details on page 35 of user manual.
Here are the instructions. This will allow you to run a PRIVATE stream and use a free phone app to listen from anywhere in the world.
MicroServer Instructions
Yes, in 'broadcast settings' you can set the broadcast sound card to output just the stream data
and not what is heard in studio for example( voicetrack previews, song previews) will only be
heard in studio and not on broadcast soundcard. In the Broadcast version all each player can be assigned to a specific sound card.
In Nextkast you can use our line in method to use an external mixer and then send the mixed audio with mic and other sources mixed in back to our internal encoder. Here are
the Instructions
System
Requirements?
NextKast
Minimal System Requirements:
Operating Systems:
Windows XP,
Windows 7, Windows 8-8.1, Windows 10
CPU Speed:
1.6 GHz AMD
or Intel
Ram:
Dependent on
OS, Common NextKast RAM consumption is 40-100 Mega Bytes
Video Card Memory:
1 Gig Minimum
Hard Drive:
Dependent on
music libary data size
Sound Card:
Most sound
cards will work, Higher Quality Sound card suggested for FM stations
and Mic Input
Streaming Requirement:
For
broadcasting to stream server an internet connection of at Least 1MB
upload speed and 3MB download
Other Considerations:
To
eliminate all variables we suggest the broadcast computer has just the
minimum OS installed and is used solely for NextKast. We highly recommend ONLY
using Windows Built in antivirus if you desire to use an anti virus
software.
NextKast
Optimal System Requirements:
Operating Systems:
Windows 7,
Windows 8-8.1, Windows 10
CPU Speed:
2.3 GHz Intel
Pentium 4 / AMD or higher
Ram:
Dependent on
OS, Common NextKast RAM consumption is 40-100 Mega Bytes
Video Card Memory:
4 Gig Minimum
Hard Drive:
Dependent on
music libary data size
Sound Card:
Most sound cards
will work, Higher Quality Sound card suggested for FM stations and Mic
Input
Streaming Requirement:
for
broadcasting to stream server an internet connection of at Least
3MB upload speed and 10MB download speed, used exclusively for
broadcasting
Other Considerations:
To
eliminate all variables we suggest the broadcast computer has just the
minimum OS installed and is used solely for NextKast.We highly recommend ONLY
using Windows Built in antivirus if you desire to use an anti virus
software.
TroubleShooting (Common
issue solutions)
Tracks
Repeating too frequently or tracks not getting picked as desired
See page 60 of the user manual for detailed diagnostic help on
scheduling
Cannot connect to stream server The first and most IMPORTANT suggestion is to copy
and paste server paths and passwords instead of typing them. Most
connection issues stem from incorrect server type, or incorrect
credentials being entered into encoder settings. Generally the error
dialog when attempting to connect will give you a clue. One possible
correction is to try to add a 'http://' in front of the server path.
Also note that admin and admin passwords do need to be entered and can
be found from your stream provider or your centova cast status page. Audio Delay in
microphone and music attenuation of music when mic is active:
Due
to buffering in the windows audio engine, a small delay of the size of
the input buffer size below plus the output buffer will be introduced
between the when you speak to when the output is heard. This
defaults to 500ms or half a second. This should only be an
issue
when monitoring with headphones is required. The delay can be
eliminated by muting the mic from the sound card, this can be
done by checking the mute mic monitor in Mic settings window. If you
need to hear yourself the best option is the use the 'Line In' External
mixer option described here: https://www.nextkast.com/nkExternalMixer.pdf
Music
levels can be lowered automatically when the mic button is pressed,
this is called 'ducking', The amount of ducking can be set in the mic
settings window.
The
nextkast App is behaving erratically
The
most common reason this happens is third party anti virus software is
interfering with nextkast operations. Uninstall third party antivirus
and reboot to resolve. Windows 10 has a built in anti-vuris software
that works best on its own.